Cedar City’s Historical Rock Church

For those not familiar with Cedar City’s historical Rock Church, take a look at this article in The Cedar City Review. I have driven by this beautiful structure in Cedar City dozens of times; but, never once stopped in to take a look. I never knew they even offered tours of the church. Now that I have read the article, the next time I am in Cedar City, I will definitely plan to stop in and see if I can catch one of the tours.

Highlights from the article include:

This historic building holds many memories and interesting stories. It also houses some of the area’s greatest workmanship and lessons of hard work and perseverance . . .

The construction LDS buildings in Cedar City was done on the northeast block of Main Street and Center Street. This entire section was owned by the LDS church and it was there that they built the tabernacle, which was torn down in 1932, a ward house and tithing offices. The Rock Church is all that remains of the magnificent block. It was built in 1931 . . .

The construction of the Rock Church was and still is unique to this area and to the LDS church. It is the only chapel that was built entirely by church members. It was also built exclusively from area materials, which were not easy to get. The beautiful wood benches, tables, stair railings and doors were made from local Juniper trees. The saints cut the trees in the winter time so that the sap content would be lower.

“They glued them and smashed them,” Weaver said, as he pointed out the layers of wood in the pews. The iron light fixtures, which are still the original sets, were made from the iron that was mined in Iron County. The beautiful rock on the outside of the church was hauled in from southern Utah, as far south as Jacob’s Lake in Arizona, and as far west as Pioche and Penaca, Nevada. Many of these stones were not just simple stones, either. Silver, which looks blue in its natural state, and copper, which is green, are both on the building.

Master stone masons from Germany laid everything out on the ground to pattern out the design before laying it on the front of the church. As you look above the front door at the archway, you will notice a center piece, which is called the keystone, and how these men placed the stones to match on either side as they went out. Even the stones all across the front are matched mirror image from the center . . .

As construction began, estimates for the cost of the building were in the neighborhood of $60,000. Even with the vast amount of donated labor, it still cost the LDS church $85,000. Many workers were paid $1 a day for their labor but ended up giving it back to help build the church.

Inside the building there are many beautiful and interesting things. When on a tour, be sure to notice the music stand in the chapel, the beautiful rails, doors and tables, and the unique baptismal font in the basement. This latter room is really a wonder to see.

The Rock Church is still owned by the LDS Church; however, given the tour schedule I seriously doubt the Church still uses the building as a place of worship. Tours are every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Special tours may be arranged by calling Kimball Weaver at (435) 586-6759. Stop in next time you are in town!

Kim: Yes, I believe the articled mentioned the font. They apparently had to close it some time back because of leaking problems, I believe.

J. Stapley: I’m not sure–it coule have been It was built in 1931. The only thing the article mentioned was that the Church sold land and buildings during the depression to raise funds. Either way, it is a pretty cool building. The sure don’t build them like that any more.

I’ve also read that gold ore was apparently mixed into the walls and that when the first part of the exterior wall was built, some residents didn’t like its appearance. But they changed their minds as construction continued.

Justin: Interesting. I was unaware of the gold ore. I’m wondering where that might have come from. Was there any gold mining in the southern Utah area at that time–or perhaps brought in from those heathen California Saints? 😉

My source is a Church News article from November 1990 regarding the church (Mike Cannon, “‘Rock Church’ a Monument to Faith,” Church News, Nov. 3, 1990, p. 14).

A short excerpt: “The [church’s] story is as colorful as its exterior rock walls—perhaps the only meetinghouse walls in the Church that include a healthy dose of gold ore.

During construction, a Church member had a wagonload of ore he took to the local Union Pacific railroad depot for shipment to smelters in northern Utah. He unloaded it, only to find he couldn’t afford to ship it. He reloaded the ore and hauled it to the Rock Church site, where it was mixed into the walls of the building.”

I used to live in Cedar City. It is actually used for meetings every week. During the week, the only meetings are on weeknights; youth meetings are on Wednesdays, and certain other meetings are on Tuesdays, like Relief Society, a women’s organization. Occasionally, there will be ward activities, but I’m sure they start after the tour times. The bulk of the meetings (sacrament, Sunday school, primary, etc.) are on Sundays, so there isn’t any conflict there. I have only been to one meeting here, as I was in a different ward (wards are organized by where you live), but you would be welcome to go, if you were interested. Go to http://www.mormon.org and click on “worship with us.” (You can go to any ward to visit, by the way.)

My Great Great Great Grandfather(Bengt Nelson (was he mentioned?)) helped build this and was a major part of it.I acctually saw some of the art work that he made with help from others. one thing is a table in the front room as soon as you walk in. it kinda looks like a checkerboard. but it was an original piece of work that was in it and was kept when the church was refurnished.

Two congregations meet in this chapel – I attended both of them at times when I lived in the area. Typically large chapels that size would house three congregations, but they limit it to two to reduce stress on the historic building.

They don’t have regular tours year round. But, if you contact the man named in the article, he may be willing to give you a tour during the winter. He was willing to do it in the winter for my homeschooled children and I.

It is a wonderful monument to church history, and the dedication of the Saint’s willingness to sacrifice! I’m sad to learn of the demolition of the original rock meetinghouse, as my 2nd-Great Grandfather (Jens Nielson), a Willie Handcart Company pioneer, laid the cornerstone of that building. I wish I could get even a little chunk of *that* stone; a testament to my self-proclaimed obsessive sentimentality! 🙂